1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to security and locking mechanism for the double door type security safe, vault or bunker wherein the door is constructed by conventional means or by modular panels, the security and locking mechanism utilizing a plurality of horizontal throw bolts and bolt channels to effectuate the sealing and locking of the double door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Security safes and vaults are used for a wide variety of protection. Security safes and vaults can be room size as in the case with many bank safes or vaults and can vary in size down to a wall safe utilized in homes and offices. The sizes and scales of such safes and vaults can vary widely between these two extremes. Applicant is the holder of a series of patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,776 and a divisional and continuation-in-part applications which have matured into patents set forth above there from for modular safes which would typically be utilized for all sizes of the safe-vault continuum. Applicant's module safes allow the safes or vaults of any size to be assembled in situ and still provide superior security and integrity and weight to the typical smaller safes utilized heretofore which could be easily breached or in many instances completely removed from the premises for being breached.
In order to increase the security of safes and vaults, efforts have been made to design modular safes which can be moved piece by piece to a location where it will be used and then assembled. The modular style safe allows for ease of transportation, but prevents such transportation once assembled. It also provides a higher degree of security than other small application safes which, in some instances, can be carried away from the location.
Applicant has further developed the modular concept of safe or vault to include the ability to expand the safe or vault to a larger size utilizing the modular concept which would allow for an individual or entity having a safe or vault already installed of one particular size to be able to expand that safe or vault in situ, by utilizing additional modular panels and security devices such that the size of the safe or vault could be expanded in a geometric progression.
With Applicant's module and expandability characteristics, the time, expense and labor of moving and installing a safe or vault are obviated. Applicant's panels are limited to a weight of 200 pounds per panel and can allow for the installation and construction of a safe or vault without a third parties knowledge that a safe or vault has been installed. Still further, the modularity and expandability characteristics allow for the expansion of an existing safe or vault constructed of Applicant's modular panels to be accomplished without third parties knowledge of such expansion or existence of such safe or vault. This concept alone further heightens the security of the safe or vault. Since if no one knows of its existence except for the owner and the installer, no temptation exists to burglarize the safe or vault.
The present invention relates to a security and locking mechanism for a double door, double hinged, security safe vault or bunker wherein the double doors are constructed of either conventional construction or of modular construction as described in Applicant's prior applications and patents. If a security safe, vault or bunker is to be assembled in situ, the locking and security mechanism must be of a size and weight which is easily transportable yet will provide the necessary security.
The security and locking mechanism of Applicant's invention is comprised of a mechanism having a plurality of horizontal throw bolts which provide at least four contact points with vertically disposed bolt channels between the double doors and eliminate the need for vertical throw bolts necessitated by the prior art in which one of the double doors was secured to the second door by a plurality of horizontal interior throw bolts with the second door being secured to the frame of the safe vault or bunker body by a plurality of vertical throw bolts which were releasable only after the horizontal throw bolts of the first door were released and the door opened. Therefore, the opening of a double door, double hinged entry way required a two step process.
Applicant by incorporating modular elements as here after set forth in Applicant's prior applications can construct a double security door of desired height, and width, for varying sized security safes, vaults or bunkers. The security and locking mechanism can be dimensioned for such size door and the components installed in situ in a modular fashion using threaded fasteners.
While the securing or locking mechanism is particularly designed for Applicant's modular elements, it can also have application to a conventional double door, double hinged security safe, vault or bunker door which conventional security safe, vault or bunker and doors would suffer from the concomitant weight prohibitions, transportation and installation assembly difficulties, whereas Applicant's modular security safe, vault and bunker with modular door and security and locking mechanism can be transported to the site as separate elements and be assembled in situ.
Some of the numerous prior art efforts to provide modular safes can be found in the following references which are discussed in detail in Applicant's prior applications which are incorporated herein: Ouellette, U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,914; Nikoden, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,935; Sands, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,948; Sands, et al, G.B. Patent No. 2,081,335; Stone, U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,874; Dippold, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,338; Simmons, U.S. Pat. No. 470,017; Farrel, U.S. Pat. No. 328,113; Hall, U.S. Pat. No. 115,728; and Hall, U.S. Pat. No. 70,202.
None of these efforts, taken either alone or in combination, teach or suggest all of the benefits and the utility of the present invention.